Inka Trail Overview

15 to 19 September July 2024

Piscacucho to Machu Picchu - 45 km (28 miles) - 4 days

This trail was a bucket list item for both of us. The trail wasn’t exactly like I thought it would be, but you don’t have a lot of control over how you do it. You need to go with a guided trek. That trek has to use porters. All the tours go nearly exactly the same distance every day and you stay in their tents, etc… You stay in designated campsites and even eat lunch at designated places, all to protect the environment.

That said, it wasn’t too easy or anything, it was all paced about right.

Preparation

The Inka trail isn’t technical and the distances are not long; however, it is at relatively high altitude. So you need to acclimatise before you go. Several days in Cusco at least, even better if you do a few day hikes at higher altitude as well. Because of our trip to the Manu rainforest and jungle, we didn’t do a hike, per se; however, we did a fair bit of walking in Cusco and a tour of the Sacred Valley.

Read our day by day notes from our Inka Trail hike >